Had I chosen the best path, one that had set me up for a successful future? Until the very moment I had seen the double pink line on that E.P.T. stick, I’m not sure the answer to that question really mattered. I was now responsible for bringing a new life into the world, and was the most insecure that I have ever been. Every decision here on out could no longer be made selfishly. There were two other lives counting on me to do the right thing.

As our swords collided with the old stump, I heard a strange sound. It sounded like a dirt bike or a car with a loud exhaust pipe. What was eerie about it was the sound was muffled and seemed to be coming from far away, yet right in front of us at the same time. What was this sound? I thought to myself. The sound grew louder and louder until I found out what it really was. Thousands of bees shot out of the stump and soon we were surrounded.

The sun was starting to set, causing the shadows that were hiding in the rubble to slowly crawl out, making the emptiness become even more eerie. We drove back to the Creative Arts Center. I removed my magazine from my M-16. It seemed strange to have a weapon that night. What was out there? The bullets couldn't stop the destruction of more water. We were there to stop looters. What was there to take? Everything was gone. Everything the people of our sector owned was gone, swallowed by the water, and left to rot in the mud.

So my suggestion is simply this: push back the waters long enough to get a more permanent plan in place and then let it flow. Building the city in such a way that is always above the flood plain seems a much more logical solution. Under normal circumstances New Orleans’ economy is primarily based on tourism. What better way to attract tourist from around the globe than with a viable floating city?

It was a short, passing moment, but I was thunderstruck. As young as I was, I was still appalled at such a breach of manners. I was also shocked at Simon’s disregard for authority. When they said “Jump!” I jumped, and I’m not sure which action caught me most off guard at the time. Some of my classmates were surprised, like me, but more of them seemed to take the attitude that this was the way it was and should be. And that disturbed me.

After reading “Just Walk on By,” I realized what Brent Staples and other African American men must go through every day. It makes me think about how I respond to someone I don’t even know. I know our situations are very different, but in some ways they are very much alike. If I had not been put in this situation of being in a wheelchair, I don’t know that I would comprehend what so many people go through in their everyday lives.

The movie American History X has a purpose in showing brutality. The story proves that racism is not only horrible, but it has a tragic price: the loss of love, friends, and family. The potency of this film’s presentation is essential for teaching the lesson that hate kills and violence destroys humanity.

When Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross first described the five stages of grief in her book On Death and Dying, her theory was heralded as a unique and insightful look at terminally ill patients and the unseen grief and devastation they experience as a result of their diagnoses. I find the parallels between Kuebler-Ross’s findings and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson intriguing, since Kuebler-Ross’s book was written in 1969 and Jackson’s story in 1948, twenty years earlier. How insightful Jackson was about the human psyche and our deepest fears.

To sell the product, it is crucial for people to become addicted to tobacco, and while each of these companies wish for their brands to become the preferred, it is more important to sell the overall idea of cool so that each generation of young people will continue to try tobacco and persist in using it. The young, who are typified as rebellious and insecure, are the perfect guinea pigs for tobacco companies.

Is the issue a legal or a moral one? As the debate continues, each year virtually every state in the U.S. has a pro and/or con measure or proposition on the ballot. Should same-sex marriages be legalized so that gay and lesbian couples can be afforded the same rights and obligations as heterosexual couples, or should these unions be banned and the definition of marriage forever remain between one man and one woman.